ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Augsburg University volleyball team dropped a four-set nonconference match to the University of Minnesota-Morris on Friday evening at Hamline University's Hutton Fieldhouse, as part of the Hamline/Macalester St. Paul Classic.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Minnesota Morris def. Augsburg 3-1 (25-15, 25-20, 26-28, 25-19)
LOCATION: Cone Field House, Salem, Ore.
RECORDS: Augsburg 1-4 overall, UM Morris 3-1 overall
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Auggies opened the first set by turning a
Lilly Wynn-
Grace Hamilton block, kills from Wynn and
Aloaha Ricke, and a
Taliah Triggs service ace into a 5-0 lead. The Cougars cut the gap to 5-4 and, after the Auggies moved back ahead 9-6 on a Triggs kill, scored seven straight points to take a 13-9 lead. Triggs put down consecutive Auggies kills to make it 13-11, but Minnesota Morris answered by pushing the margin to 17-11 and later ran the score to 24-13 behind Natalie Wahl and Tori Scheler attacks along with Auggies errors. Wynn added one late kill for the Auggies before Bella Nelson closed the set for the Cougars, 25-15.
After an even start that reached 8-8 on a
Lola Pilon kill, Minnesota Morris scored four straight points, including a Natalie Wahl kill and a block by Wahl and Tori Scheler, to move in front 12-8. The Auggies got back within 12-10, but the Cougars answered with kills by Wahl and Bella Nelson and an Auggies attack error to stretch the lead to 16-10. The Auggies made another push from 18-12, using two UM Morris errors and a
Jovial King kill to get to 18-15, then later pulled within 21-19 on kills by Ricke,
Ameerah Rogers and Ricke. Minnesota Morris held off the comeback from there, and after Ricke's kill made it 22-20, the Cougars scored the final three points to take the set 25-20. Ricke achieved a season-high total of 15 kills in the match.
The third set stayed tight through the middle, with the Auggies using kills by Ricke and
Gwynn Gorter to hold a 13-11 lead before Minnesota Morris moved in front 16-14. The Auggies pulled even at 16-16 and 18-18, but the Cougars built a 24-19 lead behind three late kills by Ella Johnson. A Minnesota Morris service error gave the Auggies a sideout at 24-20, and
Elise Uphoff served four straight Auggies points as Gorter and Triggs recorded kills and two ball-handling errors tied the set 24-24. After Johnson put the Cougars back ahead 25-24, Triggs tied it at 25-25, and following a 26-26 tie, Triggs delivered consecutive kills from King assists to close the Auggies' 28-26 set win.
Minnesota Morris put the Auggies in a 5-0 hole to start the fourth set, getting kills from Natalie Wahl and Bella Nelson around a Sella Fleming service ace before Rogers put the Auggies on the board. The Auggies worked back within 7-6 as Ricke recorded three kills and Triggs added one, but the Cougars kept the lead and pushed the margin back to 12-8 before the Auggies pulled to 14-12 on another Ricke kill. A four-point Minnesota Morris run made it 18-12, and although the Auggies later got consecutive Triggs kills to get to 21-17 and a Wynn kill at 24-19, the Cougars took the final point to close the set 25-19.
The Auggies achieved a season-high total of 95 digs in the game. King recorded a season-high of 19 digs and with her 32 assists, she recorded her fourth consecutive assist-dig double-double of the season and 24th of her Auggie career.
Maggie Lile also recorded a season-high 21 digs.
AUGSBURG TOP PERFORMERS
•
Aloaha Ricke: Team-high 15 kills, team-high 15.0 points, 8 digs
•
Jovial King: Team-high 32 assists, 19 digs, 2 block assists
•
Maggie Lile: Team-high 21 digs, 2 assists
•
Elise Uphoff: 15 digs, 1 assist
•
Taliah Triggs: 11 kills, 12.5 points, 1 service ace
UP NEXT
Augsburg will compete in the second day of the Hamline/Macalester St. Paul Classic on Saturday, Sept. 12, facing Simpson College at 12 p.m. and Central College at 2 p.m., at Hamline's Hutton Arena.
